But this is a rare occasion in which I’m not inclined to blame my displeasure on the game for being poorly designed or badly built.

Moreover, after playing in frustration for around four hours I decided I wouldn’t change Galak-Z to suit my liking even if I could.

But I’m getting a little ahead of myself. You should probably know a little more about the game before I start getting into all that.

Designed by Seattle- and Kyoto-based 17-Bit, Galak-Z is an extraordinarily difficult 2D space shooter set over multiple “seasons,” each of which has five episodes. With some help from its cartoonish graphics plus menus styled to mimic a VCR user interface, it feels a bit like you’re watching episodes of a 1980s-era animated series.

The difference is that, to my recollection, heroes in those old shows don’t die nearly as often as you will here.

17-Bit

Death in any episode sends you unceremoniously back to the start of the current season, stripped of all of your hard-earned weapons and ship upgrades. What’s more, since levels are randomly generated each time you restart you’re constantly forced to come up with fresh strategies on the fly according to the circumstances of your environment and the types of enemies and hazards you encounter.

It’s a madly challenging experience, and it’s made all the more so in my case because I simply couldn’t come to grips with the controls.

Thrust is assigned to one trigger, reverse thrust to another. Breaking is achieved by pressing both triggers at the same time, while speed boosts come from tapping a shoulder button, and evasive “jukes” from pressing an action button. It’s a far more empowering set of controls than you normally get in a 2D space shooter – assuming you can actually train yourself to properly use them.

I couldn’t.

Too many years spent playing games that look vaguely similar (like Geometry Wars and its sequels) but play very differently made want to use one thumbstick to control movement and the other to control the direction of fire. Even after hours of play I was a mess at the helm, frequently piloting straight into enemies rather than away from them.

That’s when I got to wondering why 17-Bit didn’t include a control option for people like me (I assume I’m not alone in my twin-stick conditioning when it comes to 2D space shooters), or why, for that matter, there wasn’t a difficulty setting that I could adjust to make things a little easier.

But that thought left my mind almost as soon as it flitted in, and it did so entirely because of a long-held grudge I’ve had against mainstream game designers for kowtowing to player demands.

17-Bit

I’ve grown weary – sometimes even angry – at developers who pride themselves on how they listen to the people who post on their forums, use player feedback to inform future design, and generally just make the games for which their fans are begging.

Excuse me for jumping up on my soapbox for a moment, but where’s the artistic integrity in creating something by committee? Do our most talented, respected, and critically acclaimed writers, directors, and novelists set out to make things that people like, or do they create what they want to create and let their work stand on its own for better or worse? I’m pretty sure it’s the latter.

Maybe that’s why most people can list off the tops of their heads dozens of names of standout artists in other creative fields but just about anyone other than hardcore gamers would be hard pressed to come up with the name of a single video game designer or creator.

Consider this: Dali didn’t paint to please people, he painted to please himself. Kubrick repeatedly refused to capitulate to studio demands in pursuit of his singular visions. Atwood defies expectations by continually exploring new territory and themes that interest and excite her. We love these artists for their commitment to self expression, for having the courage to hang it all out there for the world to judge. We may not like all of their creations, but we respect their dedication to pushing boundaries and staying true to their ideas.

My point is simply this: Most games, whether you consider them a form of art or not (and I generally do), would be so much more interesting if they reflected the minds of and delivered the experience that their originators intended rather than becoming a diluted product of outside influences.

17-Bit

Swinging the discussion back to Galak-Z, I get the feeling that it is an uncompromising representation of what the small Seattle-based shop who made it set out to create. I can see what they wanted to do, I reckon they’ve done a pretty good job executing it, and I can easily imagine someone who loves a punishing challenge (and who is capable of adapting to its controls) having a great time with it.

It may not be to my taste, but I’m impressed with its creators’ apparent resolve to make the game they wanted to make and let the world take it or leave it. They could have included options to make it more accessible to a guy like me, but then they’d have abandoned their vision, and in the process lessened what the game represents both to them and to those who do appreciate it for what it is.

I’m going to pass on Galak-Z.

But I will keep an eye on 17-Bit now that I know they are uncompromising in their creative vision.

Almost Done!

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